Storytime
by ThePrimeOne
Summary: Annette reads a story to Felix. Day 4 of Felannie Week 2019, prompt: Literature.


"..."I'm sorry?"

Felix gave the shorter girl across from her a confused stare, the redhead swaying side to side staring up in the air, refusing to meet his eyes out of sheer embarrassment.

"I-I said, maybe instead of me singing to you, maybe you could, y'know…" Annette drifted off, clearing her throat. "Maybe you could read me a story instead?"

Felix sighed. "No, no, I heard you just fine the first time. It's just… why? Why do you want me to read you a story"

Annette groaned, adorably planting her face in her hands. "I-I don't know! It's just, I don't know, a change of pace, I guess?" Annette supplied. "Besides, it's not fair you're always asking me to sing, why can't I ask you to read me a story?" Annette pouted, crossing her arms.

Felix couldn't argue with that. He'd gotten too greedy for his own good after he asked her to sing for her in the greenhouse, requesting that she sing for him a multitude of times afterwards. She'd always protested when he asked, but ultimately gave in no matter how much she fought back.

Felix wonder why that was the case. It wasn't as if he pushed her to sing if she ever said no. She always came back to sing regardless.

The raven-haired man shrugged. _'I suppose it won't hurt to try one more time…'_

"Fine. I've got some books in my room I could read," Felix conceded, crossing his arms as he watched Annette's face light up with a smile. "But only if you read me a story first," he added quickly, her face shifting expressions almost immediately, her jaw on the floor.

"Felix!" Annete groaned, "You can't just ask that of me!"

"Says who?"

"Says me!" Annette exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air. "Ugh, okay, fine, I'll read YOU a story, but you better read ME one after, okay?" Annette said pointing out her hand, sticking one pinky out towards Felix. "Pinky promise!"

Felix blinked at her hand, slowly copying her hand formation, jumping in surprise when she wrapped her pinky around his.

"Pinky promise, pinky promise, can't break the promise~!" Annette sung out with an excited grin, letting go of his pinky to retreat to Felix's room

Felix stared at his pinky for a few seconds, recalling the strange spark he felt with the sudden physical contact with Annette's damned _pinky _of all things, not to mention the cute melody she sung out.

_'What is wrong with me?'_ Felix chided himself.

"Hey!"

Felix looked up to see Annette waving at him from the opposite side of the dorm hallway, her head sticking out from his room. "Come on!" Annette called out to him. He immediately took a step, then another and then another towards his room, as if he was being commanded in battle.

Like he was her captive.

Felix muttered curses under his breath for remembering such an embarrassing line. Having caught up with Annette, Felix entered his room and plopped himself on a chair he had lying around, watching Annette scan through the books he had in his room; the young woman humming her exploding library song as she tapped the spines of each of the books on his shelf.

"Ooh, here's an interesting one," Annette muttered in excitement, slowly pulling it out of the shelf. "I've actually read this one before, I started re-reading it before it disappeared from the library," Annette explained, plopping herself on his bed. "I'm kind of surprised you have it, but I'm grateful you have it too," Annette said giddy with excitement- a strange change in mood from before, Felix noted.

"Do you mind if I start where I left off, by the way?"

Felix shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Okay, let's begin…"

_The battle had been long. The battle had been arduous. But Faust still claimed victory over his enemies regardless. But now, Faust had been caught off guard fog that had set in around the forest, lost from his own army. He could call out to them. But there was always a chance that enemies and other wild animals could be nearby, who would prove difficult to kill, due to Faust's current state._

_Covered in blood, he marched on into the deep recesses of the forest, in an attempt to find a place to hide away in safety. Faust marched for what seemed like hours. He felt the bandages around his wounds begin to loosen ever so slightly with each step, his supply of vulanaries beginning to dwindle._

_He gripped his blade, The Sword of Zoltan by his side._

_Was this how he was to meet his end? Not in glorious battle, but as if he were a blind man?_

_Fortunately, Faust lucked out. A distant voice rung out in the distance. Faust narrowed his eyes._

_Perhaps this was one of the enemy soldiers that had lost their way much like himself? Or perhaps an ally scouting party had been sent to look for him? Faust knew he could not afford to let his guard down either way. With the twitch of his sword hand every other step, Faust pushed forward towards the mysterious voice who had broken into song, like a siren of pirating legend, the voice pulling Faust towards it; soon stumbling upon something he least expected._

_A wide, lake full of the clearest water he'd ever bore witness to. Advancing to the clearing, the voice became louder and louder until the source of the voice, a small, petite woman dressed in a pure white dress crouched by the lake came into view._

_Faust moved closer and closer to the woman, unable to take his eyes off her fiery redhead contrasted against her clothes for some bizarre reason._

_The young woman stood to her feet when Faust stopped only meters behind her. She turned on her feet and looked at the taller man before her. If she was disturbed by the sight of his bruised and battered body, then she never made it obvious._

_"There's so much blood," she whispered, bringing her hands up near Faust. Despite being on his guard, his body's instincts had become silent. "It should be impossible for you to still be alive. What on earth happened to you…?" she whispered, pressing her hands to his chest._

_His heart skipped a beat._

_Faust frowned._

_"N- Nothing happened."_

_Not a second later, he passed out._

_Sometime later, he woke up to the sound of a siren's song with lyrics and melodies that were beautiful and mysterious all the same; songs he'd never heard in all his years of living._

_"Or perhaps I'm not," Faust mumbled, gaining the woman's attention above him. She reached down to his head that was leaning into her lap and stroked it lightly. The hardened man's face began to heat up as he became entranced by her striking blue eyes._

_"I have dressed your wounds, young man," she said with a smile. "You must remain here to rest until you have made a full recovery."_

_"Where am I?" He asked sternly, ignoring that woman's kindness._

_"You are simply… here," she said cryptically. "You are here amongst the many spirits that exist in this beautiful world."_

_"Dead?"_

_She shook her head. "No."_

_Faust narrowed his eyes at the woman. He tried to push his body up, the man suppressing groans of pain as his body was forced to lie down._

_"Who… who are you?" Faust panted._

_"I am what many refer to as 'The Lady of the Lake'. Or perhaps, it would be easier if you called me… Adreanna," she decided._

_"Adreanna… I see," Faust sighed. "What shall we do if the enemy finds us?"_

_Adreanna smiled. "Ever the soldier aren't you? I am the heir to this place, the gate between the human realm and the spirit world. I will keep you safe until you deem it fit to return."_

_Faust let it all in, remaining silent as the two stared each other down, absorbed into the other's eyes, their hearts building speed rapidly._

_"We're you… we're you the woman singing before?"_

_Adreanna smiled, caressing his hair. "Yes. Would you like me to sing?"_

_Faust nodded. "Yes. Sing for me, please…_

_"Very well then… F...x… Fe… Felix!"_

Felix suddenly jolted out of his trance, Annette breathing a sigh of relief.

"Felix? Are you feeling okay?"

The raven-haired man sighed and bobbed his head. "Hmm. I'm fine…"

"Are you sure?" Annette asked, voice full of worry.

"Yes, I'm fine, it's just that…"

"Just that… what?" Annette wondered, confused by his reaction to her reading.

"This book… Faust and the Sword of Zoltan," Felix breathed, "It's an old story my brother used to read to me before… you know, _that _incident.

Annette's eyes became wide as saucers, slamming the book shut, embarrassed by her perceived mistake.

"Oh Felix… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Dig up old feelings?" Felix finished for her. "It's okay. You didn't mean to, but, I don't mind," Felix hoarsely whiserped. "At least, when it's you anyway."

"What's the supposed to mean?" Annette asked curiously.

"I don't know. But I suppose… it's your voice.," Felix concluded. "There's a reason why I enjoy your singing so much. It's why I wanted you to read to me too. I just didn't expect that book to be the chosen one of all the books I have," Felix sighed.

"Do… do you hate it? The book I mean?" Annette questioned Felix. The raven-haired man nodded.

"I… I suppose so. I hate books like these. They glorify knighthood as something worthy to die for, as if acts of knighthood is something any decent human can't be capable of normally doing; This book is the worst of all I've read when it comes to that," Felix stared into the ground.

"It's especially worse when you have people who compare you to the people in stories, legends, like these. It sets a dangerous precedent, one that I hate; one that got my brother's death boiled down to "dying like a true knight" by my own father than cold blooded murder. Despicable," Felix snarled.

Annette shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to process all the information that Felix was dumping out into the open for her to hear.

"I've been told I'm like Faust in many ways. But that just means his great acts of 'heroism' are going to become expectations of mine now. I refuse to let a book of a silly legend cut a path for me to follow."

Silence overcame the room. "I'm sorry. It's just… I've never been able to tell anyone that."

Felix sensing the awkward air filing it, stood up and began to move to the door until he felt a hand grab his own.

"Felix? I've read this before you know. This Lady of the Lake she sounds an awful lot like me, you know? A small woman, red hair, and a singing voice that puts Faust's heart at ease." Annette pointed out. "You're right. We shouldn't let other people's expectations guide how we live. Otherwise, I'd still be home at House Dominic, waiting to be sent away for marriage, with how little my father expects from me."

"But… I do like how the Adreanna often sings for Faust. And I like singing for you too Felix."

Felix felt his mouth twitch with a smile. "So does that mean you'll get to sing me a song instead of me having to read?"

"Felix Hugo Fraldarius, don't you dare break the pinky promise" Annette pouted.

Felix smiled. "Alright I promise," Felix chuckled heading over to the bookshelf to pick out something to read.

"Annette? Do you recall how I said I'd refuse to let a book dictate how I lived?" Felix asked, Annette nodding.

"I certainly wouldn't mind if the last chapter of that book was dictated for me to live."

Annette blinked in confusion, turning to the final chapter she had yet to re-read and skimmed the final chapter.

"The final chapter? I don't see how… Oh," Annette stopped, face red and frozen in place as she let the words of the final chapter sink in. Before he knew it, Annette retreated from is room to her own, jumping onto her bed and screaming into the pillows.

Felix smirked, picking up the book and closing it entirely, the last paragraph of the book permanently etched in his memory.

_After the war had ended, Faust said his farewells to his comrades and his rival, the soon to be King of Faerghus, journeying back into the mysterious forest where he first encountered The Lady of the Lake, Adreanna. Upon reuniting, he proposed to her, Adreanna immediately accepting, resulting in Faust disappearing from the public eye for years, many assuming him dead. It wasn't until years later that this changed, when a young man and woman, both claiming to be Faust and The Lady's children appeared, carrying their parent's respective weapons and swearing fealty to the King. Faust's son would later marry the King's youngest daughter, in a last laugh for Faust._

* * *

My day 4 fic for Felannie Week 2019, prompt: Literature.

This one was... difficult. I didn't really plan this one out at all, it was kind of just thoughts thrown at a wall to create this amalgamation of a fic. Overall, I'm waaaay less satisfied with this one that I am my Day 1 fic, by comparison.

Regardless, friendly reminder that reviews are fuel! Have a good one!


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